


Unspoiled Salt

by smalltrolven



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Demon possession, F/M, Forced Pregnancy, M/M, POV Original Character, POV demon, Rape by object, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-07 02:36:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17952038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smalltrolven/pseuds/smalltrolven
Summary: Stefanus the demon just wants to do well on his first task for Crowley, the newly crowned King of the Crossroads. He has no idea how hard it will be to successfully make and keep track of a cambion (antichrist). Julia Wright doesn’t have a friend in the world, and now she’s possessed and pregnant and the demon is showing her how her child will take the world apart. Stefanus is hanging around Nebraska, possessing people, keeping an eye on Julia until the Winchesters show up. Sam and Dean find out they were manipulated by Crowley into providing Sam’s seed to make Jesse. Knowing the truth changes everything for them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not my characters, only my words. Written for the 2018 “[things that go bump in the night bang](https://thingsthatgobumpinthenightbang.tumblr.com)”. Majority of story based on and around 5.06 “I Believe the Children Are Our Future" A million thanks to [](https://dmsilvisart.livejournal.com/)**dmsilvisart** for jumping in to art it up so beautifully. Thanks to j2sockgrrrl for the very helpful beta.

 

Link to [Art Materpost](https://dmsilvisart.tumblr.com/post/183116213018/this-is-for-thingsthatgobumpinthenightbang-this)


	2. Chapter 2

  
****

Stefanus knew it was going to be a much harder job than most of his fellow demons ever had bothered to imagine. There was a reason why cambions weren’t created every day. Otherwise all of creation would be overrun with the things. All he wanted to do was to serve his master well, avoid the Pit or the racks and ultimately be of some small service to Lucifer, damned be his name. He was a good demon, at least that’s what he told himself.

When Crowley had chosen him out of the ranks of demons who supported the Crossroads operations for this special project, he’d preened with the admiration of his fellow demons. They’d oohed and ahhed about it, but they all knew there were big risks in being singled out by Crowley—for anything. It usually didn’t end well for those who tried to serve him. Crowley was known as being capricious and cruel, even for a demon. But Crowley was powerful. He’d been the right hand to Lilith for all these eons, and had become the King of the Crossroads when the last one had gotten shot right between the eyes by some human—so very rude.

So it was worth the risk, Stefanus told himself, given the rewards he’d been promised, it better  be worth it.

Coming back up to the earthly plane after so many years away was painful, everything sharp and loud, all the smells assaulting him, the noises so different from what he’d remembered. Everything was just _more_.

He swirled as just so much black smoke up high next to a metal ceiling, the smell of it tangy and intense to his hell-dulled senses. Down below were a mass of humans, all moving among machines that moved so quickly he could barely track them with his nonexistent eyes. He searched for one of them that was alone, so he could take him over unobserved, and it had to be a him, those were Crowley’s orders. For this job assignment he definitely needed to be male, the bigger and more good looking the better. The one he’d chosen was tall, almost ducking under the bathroom doorway, he had a nice head of blond hair, it was catching the light of the overhead lights. Stefanus—decision made—dove towards the man, swirling through the air as quickly as he could push himself, driving, shoving, forcing his way in. The man collapsed under his assault, going limp against the wall, knocking some papers off the bulletin board.

Stefanus slowly stood and took his first halting steps, he was sure he looked like a drunken sailor during a heaving storm. There wasn’t much time, he had to get ready for his boss’ imminent appearance. He headed towards the machines on the factory floor and leaned up against the first one to rest for a moment. Chaff and dust moved through the air, buffeted by the waves of motion from the conveyor belt. There was a tremendous amount of corn bouncing along it in mesmerizing patterns, he tracked some with his eyes getting momentarily stunned by the beauty of something so simple. He shook his head at himself, looked out at the humans working the machinery nearby, and immediately noticed and liked how high up he was compared to everyone else. This man he’d chosen was tall, much taller than he’d been way back when he’d been a human himself. Another thing to have to get used to.

Crowley cuffed him against the back of his head, slamming him into the whirring machinery of the conveyor belt.

“You idiot, straighten up,” Crowley growled. He adjusted his elegant business man’s suit from having reached up to hit him.

Stefanus didn’t know how it worked exactly, but Crowley looked the same here on Earth as he did down in Hell, a very short and round man, near balding, intense glower, sneering lip, but simmering with barely contained power.

Stefanus tried to make this new body he’d just chosen work correctly, the limbs still felt much too long and heavy after so many years of being just a smoky denizen of Hell. The concentration it took to possess a human was almost beyond his meagre powers. He’d forgotten how damn hard this could be to move all this meat around! But Crowley was there, and Stefanus knew he’d be fried in a bare instant if he didn’t manage it. Somehow he made the young man’s body stand up straighter, pushing himself off the machine that roared and pulsed along the entire length of his right side.

He’d forgotten so much about the world, but really, had it ever been this fucking loud?

“You with me now? Eh there, Stefano?” Crowley asked, raising one eyebrow as he shot his cuffs, first one and then the other, his movements precise and orderly.

Stefanus pursed his lips and tried to push some words out past them, his tongue lolled uncooperatively out of the left side of his mouth. He took a breath and concentrated everything on saying one word. “Yess,” he slurred, shook his head and tried again, “and it’sss Ste—fan—us, sshs-uh-sir.”

“Not too bad for a newbie, you haven’t been up here in a bit, right, Ste—fan—us?” Crowley asked, drawing out the syllables of his name sarcastically.

Stefanus took another breath and thought the words through clearly, then sent them down to the mouth, concentrating on pushing the breath through and past the tongue and teeth, making the lips move to form the words, “I have never been back to this plane, not since my death.”

Crowley whistled in appreciation of his feat. “Well, keep pushing him down hard inside there, so he doesn’t kick you to the back. Remember, that’s your body for now, but it’s for forever as far as the poor sod knows.”

Stefanus nodded, proud of himself for being able to move the body so smoothly. Not _the_ body, _my body now_ , he reminded himself.

“This place is what’s called the Heartland of America, you’re in a state named Nebraska, I’m sure you recall the map I had you study. Your assignment is to choose our ideal subject for this endeavor. Do you remember what the qualifications the woman you’re looking for must possess for us to have even the slimmest chance to be successful?”

“She is to be younger than twenty-five years, an intact virgin, physically healthy, fertile, and as unconnected to other humans as possible,” Stefanus quickly recited, hoping he hadn’t left anything crucial off the list.

“Well done, I think you’ve got it. Scout around here first among the workforce of the factory, blend in with the other workers, and if you find some likely candidates, summon me and I’ll help you choose.”

“Yes, sir, you can count on me,” Stefanus said, standing up straighter under the weight of Crowley’s instructions.

“We are—that is, Lilith is counting on you,” Crowley said before he poofed out in a small cloud of red-black smoke.

Stefanus turned around slowly, taking in the cacophony and disarray of the factory floor, there were a lot of people to choose from. There were several groups of women arrayed at the side of a long moving belt that the corn bounced along. Their hands flashed and moved, nimble and quick as they sorted the quickly passing corn. A loud whistle sounded and the group of women was replaced by another. The original group swarmed out through a door, talking and laughing together. He took off after them, to listen in.

“Is Harry ever gonna pop the question, Junie?” The tallest woman asked as they passed into the lunch room.

“I think I’ll be old and gray before those words ever pass his lips,” a woman replied as they arranged themselves around a pockmarked metal picnic table. Each of them pulled smashed sandwiches out of their work coveralls’ back pockets.

“You should go out with my cousin, Hank. He’s got the widest shoulders you’ve ever seen, and he’s sweeter than this year’s corn,” another woman said, unwrapping the wax paper wrapped sandwich in front of her on the table.

“Give me his number, and I’ll try him out sometime,” the woman who’d been called Junie answered, gesturing with her sandwich.

Stefanus noticed that one of the women hadn’t said anything, but had only watched the conversation ping back and forth between the other women. She was holding herself apart from the group, either too shy or just easily overlooked. He sat next to her in the wide space she’d left on the bench. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes but didn’t say anything to him, her hands tightened on an already squashed tuna sandwich.

“So, you been workin’ here long?” Stefanus asked, trying to imitate the accent he’d heard the women using.

Julia nodded slowly, chewing her sandwich and pointedly not meeting his eyes.

“This is my first day,” Stefanus said.

“But you’re a shift supervisor,” Julia said nodding at the name tag he wore on his chest. Her eyes flicked up and searched his face. “I mean, you must have been here a while to be at that level.”

“Nah, it was just a transfer from another facility, over in Iowa,” Stefanus said, scrambling to make up a good cover story. He was glad he’d studied that map of the USA that Crowley had given him.

“That why you don’t have a lunch with ya?” Julia asked.

“I…uh, I already ate mine, I’m just looking around the plant, trying to see what’s what before I dive into work,” Stefanus said. “It was real nice meetin’ ya, hope to see ya around.”

Julia nodded at him as he arose from the bench, and then silently stared down at her sandwich.

Stefanus touched her on her shoulder, delighting at her flinch and shudder. “I said, I hope to see ya around, Julia.”

“How did you know my name?” Julia asked, panicked eyes darting around his face and landing at a point just past his left ear.

“Your name tag,” Stefanus said, touching the badge on her chest with an aggressive poke of his finger. She flinched again as he pressed it into the softness of her breast and he strained to contain the grin he felt trying to stretch his lips.

“Oh, yeah, duh, of course. See you around, Kevin,” Julia said, eyes firmly fixed on his name tag, still reluctant to meet his eyes.

Ugh, why did his name have to be something so pedestrian like Kevin. He’d have to make do, until he’d found the right woman. He headed towards the door that led back to the factory floor, but felt the attention of someone, he stopped and quickly whirled around. Stefanus thrilled at the hungry, interested look on Julia’s face, she had been watching him, maybe even wanting him. He had a live one on the hook already, Crowley would be so proud. He stood up straighter and strutted back to the table, looming over her.

“When’s your shift end, Julia?”

“I’m off at four,” Julia answered, looking up at him with her eyes gone large with surprise.

“I’ll meet ya at the main parking lot then, we can go get a beer or something,” Stefanus said with a grin at her increasing surprise, almost back to panic again. He could hear her heart beating faster, and loved the hectic flush that was spreading up to cover her face a beautiful splotchy pink.

“Uh..ok, see ya there,” Julia said, blinking slowly, smiling as he nodded at her acceptance of his invitation.

Stefanus walked away slowly, letting her have a nice, long look at the goods, and listened to the buzz of the women’s exclamations of her surprising change of fortune fill the room. He didn’t hear her voice joining in, so that was an awesome sign. She didn’t participate at all, so it seemed as if Julia wasn’t attached to these people in the least. Now to find out if there was anyone else in her life or not. And whether she was a fertile virgin.

#####

Crowley had told Stefanus that he’d have to likely drive a car or truck when he was possessing a human, but that it would fall into an automatic body knowledge category. Something the body he was possessing would just know how to do without him having to learn it. That was a good thing, because he’d never seen a car in person before, as he’d died well before they’d been invented.

Crowley had shown him movies of the things in action and explained the basics of it. There would be a metal key to start the thing, and he could feel that there was something that had to be keys in his pockets. That meant Kevin had a vehicle somewhere, and he figured he’d better find it and practice a bit before Julia left the building at four. He found the exit and walked out into the bright sunshine of the afternoon, eyes blinking against the sun’s glare. He hadn’t known he’d missed it, but what was left of his twisted soul soared as he soaked up the brightness.

Before he became too sun-dazed, he shook himself out of it and looked out at the parking lot. As far as his human eyes could see, there was a vast array of vehicles, all arranged in neat rows, and one of them was his.

He looked down at the keys in his hand, there was a metal tag hanging off that had a symbol and the letters BMW. He wondered what it meant, he hoped the letters would be on his car somewhere. He walked down the first row of cars closest to the door and found several that had those letters. There was one that sparkled more than the others, silver and gleaming, he headed towards it and looked for the lock. The key turned and the door opened, he slipped into the seat and felt his feet fall into position onto pedals on the floor. The key again fit into a slot, he turned it and the engine roared to life. His hands seemed to know what to do, and he let them. The car moved more quickly than he’d expected, he felt a little ill, and wondered if he could vomit in a possessed person’s body.

The corn packing plant was already well behind him, and there wasn’t much traffic, so he pressed on one of the pedals and the car leapt forward, the corn whipping by so quickly he couldn’t quite see the individual stalks. This was the most fun he’d had since he’d been apprenticing in the torture rooms a few decades ago. Taking apart souls wasn’t nearly as exhilarating as this, not even close. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something large approaching from the side. His foot slammed onto the other pedal, and the car spun in several circles and slowed to a stop. A large horn sounded right in his ear and an even larger vehicle continued on the other road.

After all those spinning circles, Stefanus was guessing he was pointed back towards the factory, and took off in that direction. Julia had no idea what she’d be getting into when she got into this vehicle with him in a few hours. The thought made him grin and rub his hands together, the car swerved when he didn’t keep them on the wheel, and he almost spun out again. He barely avoided a truck that was coming from the factory, loaded with the boxes of corn swerved off the road, it continued on, honking and a man’s beefy arm waving out the window with the middle finger extended. He’d have to remember to ask Crowley what that meant the next time that he saw him.

****  
  



	3. Chapter 3

 

****

“Wow, this is a really really nice car,” Julia simpered at him as she slid into the passenger seat precisely five minutes after her shift had ended.

“It’s a nice ride, if ya know what I mean,” Stefanus said, smiling as widely as he could manage.

Julia seemed startled at his words and his smile, good she should be kept as off-balance as possible for this.

“Where are we heading, aren’t we going back into town?” Julia asked.

“Oh, I got us some beers, they’re in the back. I’ll show ya the nicest spot I’ve found in this hellhole.” Stefanus inwardly giggled at the use of that word. Hellhole, she had no freaking idea what that really meant.

Julia was quiet for the rest of the drive, occasionally fidgeting in her seat or pulling at her clothing awkwardly.

“You okay?” Stefanus asked, even though he really truly could not care less.

“I’m just a little nervous, been a while since I’ve been out with anyone,” Julia said, rearranging the bottom of his over-sized shirt again.

“Well…I’m not just anyone, you know,” Stefanus said, pulling the car over into a roadside pullout that overlooked one of the more scenic turns in the drainage canals. At least there were some trees, which were rare around this area. He turned the engine off and grabbed two of the cans out of the paper bag behind the seat. He handed one to Julia, and watched her shaky hands as she popped open the beer. That looked pretty easy. Kevin’s hands seemed to automatically know what they were doing once he’d gotten the can turned around the right way.

“Soooo…Julia, tell me a little about yourself, how old are you, that kind of stuff,” Stefanus said.

“I’m…uh, twenty-two and I’m from Alliance, Nebraska. I’ve been working in the plant for about two years now.”

“Two years already, my my my how the time flies. Didn’t seem like you had too many friends among your co-workers,” Stefanus observed, delighting in her embarrassed flinch.

“True, I haven’t made much of an effort really. They all have their families, and I’ve always been kind of a loner.”

“I guess it’s tough for you not to fit in,” Stefanus said, draining his beer all at once in a few long chugs. Beer was a lot stronger than he remembered it being from back in his day. Maybe it wasn’t as watered down?

“Is it like that for you at all, going from plant to plant?” Julia asked. She sipped at her beer briefly, made a face but went back for more.

Stefanus scrambled for a bit more depth to his backstory that he’d made up on the fly. “Yeah, I get used to it, never really get too connected. But, hey at least it’s not boring, getting to move around. Glad I don’t have a family to tie me down, how about you?”

“No, I don’t have any family left. My parents died in a house fire ten years ago, and there’s no one else,” Julia answered, looking down at her work-reddened hands twisting in her lap.

“You a virgin by any chance, Julia?” Stefanus asked, the effects of draining the beer that quickly hitting him more than he’d imagined. It made Kevin more slippery inside, harder to hold onto, he had use more of his energy up just to maintain control. He could feel Kevin getting stronger, closer to the surface, he had to shake his head a few times, bang it against the head rest until he felt Kevin give up and subside again.

Julia spluttered the beer she’d just swallowed, coughing desperately for a few seconds. She was a dark red and hadn’t answered his question.  “Why would you ask me something like that?”

“Well, there are a couple of things that I like to know, before I bother to get involved with a woman. Two things, first, is she an intact virgin, and second, is she within the normal human fertile range.” Stefanus felt Kevin roar back up towards the surface, screaming at him: “You’re the rudest fucking son-of-a-bitch! Get out of me! Stop talking like that to her, can’t you see she doesn’t want to answer you!” He grabbed another beer out of the bag, popped the top and drained it all in one long swallow. The lack of oxygen seemed to get Kevin to back off.

“I think I’d like to go back to the plant now,” Julia said, looking out her window.

“I think I’d like you to answer the questions first,” Stefanus said, sitting up a bit straighter in his seat so he loomed over her.

She shrunk back and crunched the now empty beer can in her hand. Julia didn’t meet his eyes, and she spoke so quietly, he almost didn’t hear the whole thing. “Yeah, I’m a virgin, and I guess I’m fertile. I don’t get why you’d ask that though. I mean, we don’t even know each other.”

“That’s because it doesn’t matter if we know each other. I just had to find out whether you were  even worth it or not,” Stefanus said, not holding back a large belch.

Julia flinched again, whether at the rudeness or the smell of cheap beer filling the car, he didn’t care.

“So, yeah, we can go back to the plant now,” Stefanus said, turning the car back on and zooming back the way they’d just driven.

“You didn’t want to…you know, do anything else?” Julia asked, her obvious confusion making her inadvertently bold.

“What, like I was going to fuck you right then and there?” Stefanus laughed and guffawed the whole way back to the plant. This woman was unbelievable. She had no freaking clue what was coming her way.

Stefanus stopped abruptly at the outer edge of the now-darkened employee parking lot. When she didn’t get out, he leaned over without touching her, opened her door, and un-clicked her seat belt.

“Thanks, I guess,” Julia muttered as she scurried out, shutting the car door quietly behind her.

Stefanus drove into one of the empty spots near the exit. Shut off the car and waited. Soon enough a beat-up, quite nondescript subcompact with terrible rust issues passed through the gate with Julia behind the wheel. Now was the time, he began his first efforts to push his way out of Kevin, it wasn’t as hard as he’d pictured it. It was so much easier exiting that entering a meat-suit. Kevin was ridiculously easy to shrug off, scoot out of, abruptly exit—there had to be a more demonic sounding term of art for leaving the corporeal vessel behind in a cloud of demon smoke.

He followed Julia’s car in his more familiar form, a roiling mass of black smoke that she didn’t notice in the dark. Stefanus floated behind her as she shuffled up the steps to her dreary apartment, and flowed under the door as she locked it behind her. Then he flowed right into her, right down her throat in an almost liquid rush. Right then and there, he took her over, before she’d had a chance to turn on the lights or even set her purse or keys down. They both fell to the floor as she fought him, but she soon gave in to his power, giving up and retreating. She put up much less of a fight than Kevin had, and Stefanus wondered if that meant she was weak or just not as attached to her self or her body. Maybe she was just worn down and sick of her truly shitty life. He found his way to her messy, unmade bed and laid her ( _no his body_ ) down. He hadn’t noticed until he was at rest, it was tiring going in and out of bodies. He let them both sleep.

***

Stefanus thought it was hilarious to see Kevin’s reaction when he went to work the next day as Julia. At first he ignored Kevin, sneering at any attempt to talk to Julia, laughing when he asked her out again, all of it, he rebuffed. The poor guy looked so confused, after all he had a days’s worth of time where he really couldn’t remember too many details. But he did seem to know that they’d been on something resembling a date, and there’d been something there between them that he’d wanted to pursue. Stefanus delighted in having Julia tell him off loudly in the doorway of the lunch room, accusing him of attempting to force himself on her, that she didn’t need someone like him in her life.

The whole thing had been much easier than he’d thought it would be, finding the right woman, this Julia Wright. He spent some time in her apartment, going through her possessions,  examining her pathetic unconnected life, acting like a detective so that he could easily take over and live it for her. She had barely even fought him when he first entered her, and never really resurfaced to fight him. It seemed like she just accepted the possession as the next horrible thing in her shitty life.

Stefanus rode her for a couple months, to make sure that she was a woman who had regular periods, as that was such an important box to check off on Crowley’s list. He even had her go to an OB/GYN appointment to check her fertility, not wanting to just go based on those two cycles. They’d been so marvelously messy, all that blood flowing out, the lovely cramping pains deep in his belly. It reminded him of some of his better days in Hell. But for some reason, women didn’t appreciate having “a period” every month.

He found the euphemism for it ridiculous, and thought that if women renamed it to something more clear, accepted it for what it was, even reveled in it, that maybe it wouldn’t bother them so much. He thought that ‘blooding’ or even ‘power flow’ might work, according to the product names he’d seen on the TV in Julia’s apartment. The first time Julia ovulated, Stefanus lay in the dark of her bedroom, one hand on his lower belly, and chanted one of this favorite dark prayers to Lucifer. He memorized the sharp feeling in his lower back on one side, and felt his body go soft and receptive. Stefanus knew she was the one.

The doctor was an older man with liver spots on his shaky hands. He pressed on Julia’s belly from the outside, examined her breasts and then stuck a metal instrument inside of her. Stefanus almost screamed from the surprising pain, he could hear Julia laughing at his response. “This is nothing, asshole, wait until childbirth!”

After the exams, the doctor asked a series of routine questions, but his bushy white eyebrows shot up in surprise to hear Julia’s answer that she was still a virgin at twenty-two. Stefanus hadn’t bothered to remember the lame excuse he’d come up with on the fly to explain poor pitiful Julia’s virgin state to the doctor. Whatever it had been, it had worked. The main thing was that according to the doctor, Julia was in her fertile prime, ready to have a boatload of kids asap.

“Just find yourself a good man first, honey,” the doctor said with a patronizing pat on the shoulder as Stefanus walked out of the exam room.

Stefanus barely controlled himself wanting to turn and slice the idiot doctor for presuming such a thing.

Julia would be with no man, ever.

To celebrate the good news, on the way home, he had her slice the throat of a pizza delivery woman in a dark city parking lot. Stefanus couldn’t wait to contact Crowley and tell him that he’d succeeded so quickly. The woman had screamed and begged, but Julia’s body had held her down tightly with the assistance of his demon powers while a sharp knife did the hard work. He could feel Julia surfacing, as the delivery-woman screamed. Stefanus was satisfied to feel her recoiling at the violence her hands were doing. He made her watch as the pewter bowl slowly filled with the dying woman’s vaguely pepperoni-scented life’s blood. Julia faded away, Stefanus could feel the sickness and nausea she felt at her body’s actions. But none of that mattered, he wasn’t her, and she wasn’t in charge anymore, she was just along for the ride.

Once the bowl was filled with the shimmering deep-ruby liquid, Stefanus spoke the words that would place his call to Crowley. At first a functionary answered, and tried to put him off. There was a lot of background noise as the demon hemmed and hawed about pulling Crowley out of a meeting. Stefanus found himself longing for Hell as he heard the screams of the tortured and moans of the damned. He finally remembered to use the code word, AlphaPrime, and the demon who’d answered squawked with surprise. The blood boiled and spluttered with the noise of the demon’s response.

“Stefano, it’s about damn time, I’d almost given up on you!” Crowley’s voice boomed in his head as drops of blood sprayed and danced over the surface in the pewter bowl.

Stefanus decided it wasn’t a good idea to correct his lord, and went with giving the good news first. “I’ve found her, sir, I’ve found the perfect woman. She’s twenty-two and ready to conceive whenever you’re ready to proceed, sir.”

“That’s surprisingly adequate, you are possessing her right now, like we had planned?”

“Yes, I’ve got her locked down so far she’ll never come up for air again.”

“Well done, give me a call the moment you feel her ovulate, and I’ll plan to arrive and do the deed within a day,” Crowley said, sounding like he was actually pleased.

“It should be in two weeks, but I will call you when her cycle begins, I’ve learned how to feel when the ovulation, happens” Stefanus said, trying to keep his feelings of pride at his accomplishments out of his voice.

“Your job now, Stefano, is just to keep her quiet and don’t do anything suspicious. She needs to be acting as normally as possible, so we can keep this hidden,” Crowley said.

“You’ve got it, sir. I will,” Stefanus said.

The surface of the blood went still and the connection dropped. Stefanus instantly missed the background noise of Hell, the screams and moans of the damned just couldn’t be matched. It was what he was used to, and all the death metal music in the world just wasn’t a good enough replacement. That’s what he listened to, all the way back to Julia’s apartment, at full volume. It didn’t matter if the vessel lost her hearing, she could still bear the child.

***

Out of sheer boredom, Stefanus continued to go to work as Julia for those two weeks until her monthly cycle started again. He should have been keeping better track of the days, but the utter banality of the human existence was getting to him. Or maybe it was just Nebraska? One of her coworkers had to loudly point it out to him as they worked side by side.

“Julia, do you need a pad or tampon or something? I have some in my locker,” Marge at the next station had asked, looking at the bloody stain between Julia’s legs.

Stefanus made Julia blush and stammer and accept the woman’s help, he had no idea why it was her business, but at least he knew what tampons and pads were thanks to all the television ads he’d seen. He hadn’t happened to be scheduled to work on the days of the most blood flow the previous two months. He’d just stayed at home and soaked through all of Julia’s clothing, leaving a mess on the couch that he found quite appealing. Of course bleeding like this was unacceptable to humans. Yet another thing that made them so damn boring, blood didn’t just belong inside their bodies, it was beautiful painted all over the outside too. And this blood in particular was special, it meant she was going to be ready to be impregnated soon.

Stefanus asked for the rest of the day off, he struggled not to laugh as Julia’s supervisor turned beet red when he’d realized why. Stefanus walked out of the idiot’s office, hips swaying, showing off the blood soaked pants he wore. He was on the lookout for an easy opportunity to find another human life to take, he had to give Crowley the good news right away. Coming home early from work coincided with the neighborhood kids walking home from school unattended, to their latch-key, no-adults homes. One of the smallest girls from one of the largest, poorest families on the street was playing in the weeds in front of Julia’s apartment house when he’d arrived in her rattle trap heap of a car. He’d used Julia’s sweetest voice to invite the lonely girl inside with a promise of tea and cookies. Inside he’d used Julia’s own hands to strangle the life nearly out of her and then slit her throat in the bathtub. No actual tea or cookies required.

The pewter bowl filled quickly with the little girl’s blood, it gleamed and sparked with life, the surface dancing before he’d said the words. It surprised Stefanus to see the difference with the other call he’d made, maybe it was because of her age? By the time Crowley had answered, he’d decided that it wasn’t wise to ask those kinds of questions.

“It’s time, sir. I’ve…uh, I mean, she’s ovulated today, about an hour ago,” Stefanus said, not bothering to keep the joy out of his voice.

“Right on schedule, that will work out marvelously on my end. I will see you very soon, within a day, my good man, well done!” Crowley was over the moon with excitement, the surface of the blood leapt and danced, almost spilling over.

“Thank you sir, I will prepare for your arrival,” Stefanus said, grinning widely at the rare praise.

“Stefano, I want you ready to go, the moment I get there. The issue will still be warm, and that will be our best possible shot to achieve success,” Crowley said.

“I will be sir,” Stefanus said, not caring a whit that Crowley still didn’t know his name.

Crowley ended the connection and this time Stefanus didn’t lament the loss of the background sounds of Hell, he was too excited for what was to come. Sometime with the next twenty-four hours, they were going to make it happen. All this waiting was going to worth something. Julia’s body would be at peak conception fertility during this time. He sat in silence after talking with Crowley, practically vibrating with the expectation of the event. It was going to be such an honor, and it hopefully would work on the very first try.

In the middle of the night when he couldn’t sleep, he bundled up the girl’s small body into a duffel bag, and heaved it into the trunk of Julia’s car. He drove it out past the edge of town, where the streetlights and highway traffic were non-existent. The bag fit nicely into one of the corn harvesters parked in one of the unharvested fields. Someone would get a gruesome surprise tomorrow, Stefanus chuckled to himself. The sound of his dark cackle disappearing into the furtive night time noises of the corn field.

#####

It was finally the day he’d been waiting for, working for all these long frustrating months. Crowley was coming to do the deed as they’d arranged. He made sure Julia was pushed as far down inside herself as he could manage and arranged her naked body on the bed. It probably wasn’t necessary for her to be naked, but it just seemed right somehow. He’d even taken a shower and washed her hair, wanting her to start out her journey as the vessel as clean as possible. When the red smoke announcing Crowley’s entrance entered Julia’s small, dingy bedroom, he held her legs ( _his legs_ ) open wide, then even wider, practically panting with anticipation.

“How did you get it? You know, the stuff?” Stefanus asked as Crowley came towards him with a filled-up turkey baster.

Crowley didn’t say anything, just kneeled up on the bed between Stefanus’ legs.

Stefanus spread his legs a little wider to give Crowley room, and tipped his hips up just as he’d read would work best to insure the sperm’s journey towards their ultimate destination.

Crowley inserted the tip of the baster and gently pushed it up against his ( _her, no…their_ ) cervix.  Stefanus felt himself get wet and open and juicy just like he’d trained himself to do over these months of practice. Julia rose up then in a rage at her physical violation and he struggled to hold onto her. He concentrated on the gentleness that Crowley was using with her body. He still managed to hold Julia’s legs open as Crowley fucked her with the plastic turkey baster. He did it with much more gentleness than he’d imagined Crowley ever bothering to have with a human, given that he’d never seen him treat a demon so nicely.

To keep Julia’s control at bay, Stefanus thought of all the time he’d spend practicing for being inseminated in this way. He concentrated on all the lovely orgasms he’d given Julia, she’d been so surprised, she’d never even tried to reach climax by herself. Every time she came, he let her up, let her feel it all so that she’d maybe come to associate the pleasure with some freedom. He’d read all those books about turkey baster insemination, doing the exercises the experts recommended. He’d found that her ( _no his)_ body reacted best if he masturbated first, a lot of clitoral stimulation, some nipple pinching, but she (n _o he_ ) had really responded the best to the series of increasingly larger vibrators he had used. In his mind, it would be good for his body to be used to this sort of penetration, and conception was said to be more likely if there was also pleasure involved. He’d always imagined that Crowley would be rough and fuck her like the king of Hell the he was.

Crowley read his mind and tssked at him, “We don’t want to hurt her you idiot, we want her to get pregnant and she can’t do that if she’s all torn up inside. There’s plenty of time for that later, Stefanus.” Crowley gave a final pump to the end bulb of the turkey baster and pulled it out of Julia’s body. He held it up to the light to check that it was empty and smiled. “All done, now you just lie there and keep your ass up for a few hours. We don’t want to waste any of Sam Winchester’s teenage spunk now do we?”

“How’d you get it from him, sir?” Stefanus asked again, still curious at how Crowley had managed it. “Isn’t he supposed to become Lucifer’s vessel?”

“The vessel is a young man, just fourteen, and he masturbates a lot more than you’d imagine possible. It was easy to trick him,” Crowley said as he arranged pillows and blankets around Julia’s body to make it easier to keep his pelvis elevated.

“Trick him how?” Stefanus asked, wondering why Lucifer had chosen a vessel that was so easily deceived.

“Well, he’s not in the habit of saving his issue, so to speak, and I provided him with a reason he couldn’t resist.”

“Which was what?” Stefanus asked, still wanting to learn Crowley’s methods.

“I had his brother ask him for it, and he will quite literally do anything for his big brother. Including whacking off four times into a plastic container. Here, I’ll show you.” Crowley leaned forward and touched his forehead with two fingers.

****  
  



	4. Chapter 4

 

****

Stefanus was instantly in what must be this Sam Winchester’s bedroom, he was wearing a different body now, a man’s body, this must be the older brother, Dean. He was holding a small plastic container in one hand, and staring at the scrawny teenager sprawled on the bed.

Stefanus could feel Dean’s rage that he was being controlled by Crowley, the sense of the wrongness of the words, that they were words he’d never ever say and why didn’t his brother know it wasn’t him was overwhelming. “Sammy, I know you whack it, like all the time. It just seems like it’s a lot, I just want to check that what’s coming out is okay. Everyone does it to make sure they’re healthy.”

“I have never heard of this in my life, Dean,” Sam said with all the snotty assurance of a fourteen-year old know-it-all.

“It’s a pretty new thing, it wasn’t even around when I was your age. There’s a test at the drug store, I’m gonna go get one. I’ll show it to you,” Dean said. Stefanus was impressed with Crowley’s ability to instantly come up with a plausible explanation.

“This seems like something parents should be doing,” Sam said.

“You really wanna talk about your spunk with Dad, Sammy?” Dean waggled the container closer to Sam’s face.

“Fine, whatever. Just give me the container,” Sam said holding out his hand, impatient now to have this embarrassment over with.

“How long do you think it’ll take to fill it up?” Dean held out the clear plastic container with markings on the side. “It’s gotta be up to line number four for the test to work.” Stefanus could feel the longing, the want that this boy had for his beautiful brother, sprawled out in front of him. He could also feel how hard Dean fought Crowley’s hold, it was extraordinary, but Crowley was a much more powerful demon that he was. Stefanus thought it had to do with how much Dean loved his brother, it was almost strong enough to beat Crowley’s hold.

“I have no idea, I mean, I’ve never measured it or anything, that’d be totally gross. But that seems like a lot, Dean.”

“You can do it, Sammy. Just keep it in the fridge between jerk-off sessions. I’m gonna go out to the CVS in town and get a test, I’ll be back soon.”

“You’re not gonna stay?” Sam asked in a small voice, looking up at Dean through his long eyelashes.

“What, you want some help or something? It’s usually a one-man job, unless…” Dean trailed off, his voice going husky. Stefanus could feel Dean’s eyebrows waggling, then he felt Crowley’s fingers come off from contact with his forehead. Sam’s room disappeared from his view, just as it was about to get a whole lot more interesting.

“That’s impressively kinky, even for you sir, they’re brothers, really?” Stefanus asked.

Crowley grinned, horrible and self-satisfied. “It’s just a small part of a long term plan I have. These two Winchester brothers are going to be so wrapped up and twisted about each other, by the time I’m done with them. It’s going to be absolutely delicious to watch.”

“I hope I’m around to see it,” Stefanus said, really meaning it, because these brothers were really extraordinary, the connection between them wouldn’t be something he’d ever forget.

“Well, who knows, maybe if you pull this off, you will get that chance. Don’t get up until the buzzer goes off,” Crowley said, setting a ticking kitchen timer down on the bedside table.

Crowley had left him then, in a poof of his flashy red smoke, without more information about these brothers, instead leaving him with a stack of pregnancy books to read. When he was alone for a few hours, Stefanus began to worry that this was the point where he would fail. That Julia would finally find a way to kick him out. To keep her entertained and occupied he’d played all the greatest hits of her life over and over again, there weren’t many of them, graduating high school, giving the eulogy at her parent’s double funeral without crying when she was twelve, moving into the crappy apartment she lived in, and buying the crappy car she still drove to work every day.

Finally the buzzer had gone off and he’d been able to get up. He took a long hot shower to wash off the spunk that dribbled down his legs and thought about the beautiful boy who’d donated it, would he ever know what he was a part of creating? He concentrated all his focus and attention on where he thought her uterus was and thought fertile thoughts at it. A few days went by where he had her call in to work so her body wouldn’t have to be too active, and then he’d finally felt it, just as the books had described— _the quickening._

There was a spark deep inside her body, no _his body,_ he felt an internal kick, _okay_ _their_ _body for now._

#####

Stefanus had to wait until he knew Julia’s body had successfully implanted an embryo, sure he had felt the quickening as all the baby books had talked about. But he had to be one hundred percent sure before he bothered to communicate with Crowley that their plan had succeeded. He had to wait a few weeks before he could even take a home pregnancy test to confirm his suspicions that he was indeed pregnant.

It was disgusting having to urinate on something, to get that substance on his hand, well it was just gross. He was kind of surprised at himself, he’d been elbow deep in many of the subjects of Hell when he’d taken his turn at the torture tables, but the stench and heat of the human urine, because it was coming out of his own ( _her_ ) body, was just…yuck. Stefanus had to leave the bathroom, pacing back and forth with a thrumming anxiety, he had to be right, he just had to. He couldn’t take another month of waiting. Or of having to tell Crowley that he’d failed at something as simple as getting his stupid vessel pregnant.

After what felt like hours waiting, the buzzer that he’d set finally rang, echoing down the hall. He strode in and slammed it off, and picked up the pregnancy test stick, it had a pale plus sign in the indicator window. He compared it to the paper that had come in the box. That was it, confirmed and for sure he was carrying the savior of his people. All he had to do now was get a doctor to confirm it, Crowley had insisted on that, telling him not to bother calling until he had something official. With a shaky hand he dialed the phone and made the appointment with that liver-spotted patronizing doctor he’d seen a month ago.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough. He went to work and sorted the damn corn and made small talk with as few people as possible. Julia might be glowing with that healthy pregnancy glow, but he didn’t want anyone to notice that yet.

The doctor appointment went quickly, and he felt stupid, having to perform basically the same test in the doctor’s office as he had at home. But the answer was the same, it was positive, he was indeed pregnant, with a due date in March of next year. That seemed so far away, but he’d already been here long enough to figure out how worthwhile it was, being here up top instead of in the depths of Hell. It was worth the boredom, at least he wouldn’t have to be possessing this woman any longer now that she was finally pregnant. He thought he’d switch off and possess one of the handsome men that worked at the corn sorting plant. They seemed to have more going on in their lives and he’d still be able to keep an eye on Julia.

Stepping out of the doctor’s office, he knew he had to wait until well after dark to find someone to kill to make the call to Crowley. He couldn’t risk Julia getting caught and imprisoned or worse. Instead of driving home, he took himself out to eat at the one nice restaurant in town, candles and white tablecloths. The rare steak that he ordered wasn’t bloody enough for his tastes of course, but he wasn’t supposed to really risk that sort of thing now that he was pregnant. He chewed slowly and thoroughly, thinking about what he’d be eating after he birthed the savior of his race. Would he be lucky enough to have a private chef preparing his meals perhaps? Or would there be a slave involved, someone he could order around and abuse with all his demands and whims being met immediately. He smiled at the idea and then saw a woman across the dim restaurant notice his expression. He must not have hidden his demon-ness well enough because the woman looked utterly terrified. He sniffed and took it in, the scent of the woman’s terror was as delicious as the steak. He kept his eyes on her as he finished, slowly chewing, imagining it was her that he was consuming instead. She cowered in her booth, alone with her plate of uneaten food in front of her. When Stefanus was done, he paid and waited outside in the dark parking lot. The woman finally exited and he quickly subdued her, bundling her up into his car, driving off into the night.

Finally it was time to announce his triumph to his king. It had been hard to wait these extra days. But finally it was time to slit this woman’s throat and fill the bowl. She went limp and pale in his arms, the scent of her terror overtaking the rich copper of her blood. He shivered with the feeling of power holding the pewter bowl in his blood slicked hand, watching the voice of his king dance upon the crimson surface of this pitiful human’s life.

“We did it, sir. I’m…uh, she’s pregnant!” Stefanus couldn’t help his excitement, he hoped it came across the line to Crowley well enough so he’d understand.

“You’ve had this confirmed by a doctor?” Crowley asked.

“Yes…of course, sir. I followed your directions to the letter, I did the home pregnancy test and then another one at the doctor’s office, just today in fact,” Stefanus said.

“Well, that is—quite a thing isn’t it, we’ve actually, we might have really won this thing after all,” Crowley said, sounding a little over-awed at their success.

“What is your next directive, sir? Shall I stay in the town, and observe her throughout her pregnancy or return to Hell?” Stefanus asked, hoping that he’d get to stay top-side a little longer.

“No! You idiot, you stay in possession of  her! You must keep her down, at least until the birth,” Crowley said, shouting so loudly that some of the blood splashed out of the bowl. Stefanus worried that the connection would be severed.

“I see, sir, of course, how stupid of me not to realize—“ Stefanus stammered, terror-struck the pit of his stomach at the thought of Crowley’s displeasure.

“We must keep her under control. You must understand how critical it is that we take the cambion into our custody the moment he is birthed. The angels will know, and they will be searching for him,” Crowley said.

“I understand, sir. I will not fail you,” Stefanus promised, meaning it with every shred of himself that he still possessed.

“You’d better—oh I’m not going to bother threatening you, Stefano, I know you know the drill,” Crowley said.

“I promise, I will keep her in control at all times. And as soon as I schedule the c-section, I will contact you with the date so you can attend.”

“Good man, I know you will not fail me because you know the importance of our success,” Crowley said.

“Thank you, sir,” Stefanus said, even though the connection had been cut before he finished speaking.

He had not really thought about it, but of course Crowley would want as much control of the situation as possible. There couldn’t be a chance that Julia, once she wasn’t possessed would hurt the child by eating the wrong thing or Lucifer forfend, get an abortion. It wasn’t going to be the most pleasant thing in the world to be pregnant and give birth, but it was still better than going back to being just another cog in the workings of Hell.

After the bowl had been emptied and the connection cut off from his end, he screamed up into the night sky until Julia’s ( _his)_ voice gave out. Throwing the bowl out into the corn field in a rage, Stefanus was not happy. It made sense, of course it did, Crowley was always right. But damn, he had so been looking forward to getting out of her, stretching his legs, trying on someone new. He screamed and raged, letting all the frustration out by tearing apart the woman from the restaurant that he’d already killed with his teeth and hands ( _her teeth and her hands_ ). When he was done with her, it looked like she’d been ravaged by a pack of wolves. All the while putting up with the howls and screams of protest from Julia within. He viciously pushed her down until he could no longer feel her. He drank his fill from the dead woman, until his belly felt sick. He wiped the blood from his mouth and stomped off into the cornstalks to retrieve the bowl.

 

    * 


 

****

For the first month or so of the pregnancy, Julia made small efforts at stepping forward, not exactly trying to take back control, but like she was trying to surface a little to see what was happening. He didn’t want that or anything close to it happening, he just couldn’t chance it. Instead, he showed Julia a continuous loop of what her child would do to Heaven’s Host, wiping out the angels and then remaking the world. Stefanus had always been a true blue Lucifer acolyte, he had always wanted the cleansing of the world to happen, he wanted to see it all burn. He delighted in Julia’s horror at seeing what her child would do over and over again. Eventually she stopped making her attempts at seeing through her own eyes. But Stefanus kept the picture show going anyway, just because he could. He had to get his sick pleasure somewhere, right?

Julia really had been subdued for most of her pregnancy, so Stefanus delighted in surprising all her coworkers at the corn processing plant with ever more risqué reasons for her expanding belly. They had never really noticed Julia before, but now she was the talk of the morning shift. It was fun watching their human faces react when mousy little Julia mused about whether this married man or maybe that also married man was the father. The pearl clutching scandal, oh my!

Stefanus made sure to eat well, take his prenatal vitamins and go to all the maternal care appointments with Dr. Liver Spot. He was making sure his ( _her…their…the_ ) body did the best job it possibly could at growing the cambion. He slept on his right side, pillow between his legs, hand curled around his growing belly, dreaming of birthing The Weapon that would save all demon-kind. He dreamt of parades in his honor, cheering throngs of demons and angels who’d been won over by the cambion’s raw power.

He could feel it, always pulsing deep within him, that extra heartbeat so much stronger than it should be, the almost visible glow through the stretching skin of his belly. How did no one else see it, or maybe it was only visible to his demon eyes? He was glad to have it all to himself, well him and Julia. He showed her more and more possibilities of what her child would accomplish. How he would take the world apart and remake it for demons to rule over forever. It made her cringe even further back, made her more compliant and listless. It took less and less of his energy to contain her, she hardly even responded when he tried to provoke her.

Julia’s body, swaybacked, curved belly, waddling walk, barely made it through her last scheduled shift at the factory. Her supervisor leered and offered her money to let him fuck her over his desk on her last day before pregnancy leave. Stefanus had leered right back, got up in that fat bald man’s pathetic face, spat right at him. As if he would let Julia be used that way when she was the perfect carrier of the savior the demons had always hoped for. He wished that he could break the man’s neck and drape his entrails all over the factory in warning to all the others like him. But he couldn’t take the risk to Julia’s safety and his freedom. Stefanus had swiped the pitiful stack of cash he’d been offered, right off the man’s desk and waddled his way out of the office, ignoring the spluttering protests.

This child, _her child, his child, their child,_ was going to ruin all of this, not that there was much to ruin. Corn corn and more fucking corn, corn filling the entire horizon, and shitty people working shitty jobs for the whole of their shitty short lives. It was going to be one hundred percent better once his son got done kicking ass and taking over. He wondered if the cambion would consider him as father, or if he’d be seen as a necessary means to being born. Either way, he’d relish his connection to the bringer of death, the end of the world.

####

On the first morning of his pregnancy leave, Stefanus got a call from the doctor’s office to confirm the c-section appoint that he had made. It was supposed to be the next day, but they needed to reschedule. Stefanus had to agree, he needed to get this baby out at a certain time so Crowley could be there. It would be okay, he could make a call.

Sure, it was a little earlier that he’d expected, and it wasn’t a nicely scheduled and arranged c-section with a start time and all that Crowley could plan around. That had been their plan, for Stefanus to call as soon as he knew the final scheduled time for the operation. Crowley had to be there. Stefanus had even picked out the neighborhood child that he’d be sacrificing to make the call. There were so many of the ragged neglected ragamuffins to choose from, and that other little girl gone missing had already been forgotten.

But Julia’s body had other plans, just after he’d hung up with the scheduling nurse, the birth pains hit him. They started with a roaring burst of pain that almost knocked him to his feet. Stefanus doubled over with the pain, screaming in surprise. It wasn’t going to work, he wasn’t going to be able to call Crowley. It was all so sudden, the horrifying all-consuming pain spreading over his entire belly, wrapping around his back, cutting off his breathing.

“Oh Lucifer, oh Lucifer give me strength,” he cried out. He just needed—he just needed to breathe. He tried, he struggled so hard just to breathe, in—out—in—out, just to concentrate on that, he had to keep control.

But the pains of his ( _no no no,_ _her_ ) uterus contracting were beyond what he’d planned for. With every single contraction he felt his control slipping away.

He couldn’t even manage to move Julia’s body out of her house, or call for an ambulance. The pain of it was overwhelming, no, it was paralyzing. He couldn’t anticipate the rhythm of the contractions, they seemed to hit him out of nowhere. Vaguely he remembered the term, precipitous labor, and this was it. It was happening, and he couldn’t stop it.

Stefanus had to concentrate every ounce of his attention and power at keeping control of Julia that he wasn’t using just to breathe and to survive the pain. It was as if she’d been storing up all of her energy for this moment, to push him out, push him down just enough to break free. He struggled for control of Julia’s body, suddenly finding himself downstairs in the basement.

He felt such joy, near glee, because finally the birth was happening. Julia was feeling it too. He tried to twine their emotions together, they both wanted this baby to be born. He didn’t care about her reasons. But he, Stefanus, was going to succeed in giving Crowley exactly what he’d planned on. This boy was going to change the world. They were finally going to win!

The boy slipped out of her body in a gush of blood and fluid, and overwhelming pain and Stefanus felt himself black out.

He came back to himself, finally it was all over, and was holding the boy right there in his arms. He saw his dear little face, so human, but still with that inner cambion glow. Before he could manage to say hello to the little one, he found himself near the container of salt used for the walkways in the winter. He wailed and pounded at her skull from the inside but it didn’t work. He was too tired from the birth, and she was too energized by it. Julia pushed him out just long enough to get there, to get her filthy human hands on enough salt to stuff down her gullet. But wait…no, it wasn’t just her pushing him out. It was the cambion helping her, the baby in her arms instinctively pushing away at something hurting its mother. Stefanus wasn’t strong enough, not anywhere near prepared for that kind of power, that sort of combined assault took away any hold he had left on Julia’s body.

How had she even known that he’d be susceptible to salt? Where had she even learned that? Had there been a clue somewhere in all those visions he’d given her about demons and their trials and tribulations? Those were the thoughts that raced through him as he exited out of her mouth in a black torrent of smoke. Disoriented and crazed by the pain he’d just dissipated, floated off into nothing, not able to stay there and re-take her.

He floated off and out and away into the frigid March night. He knew nothing and only came back to himself after it was much much too late. He swooped through her house, only able to do recon, to see if she was still living there, the idiot woman hadn’t fled. But she sure as hell wasn’t pregnant anymore. And the boy was long gone. And he had failed at the only thing that mattered.

Once he finally felt up to it, Stefanus possessed a cashier in a gas station in the middle of the night, he slashed the throat of the first customer that was unlucky enough to stop for gas. As the bowl filled and the surface shimmered with the power of a sacrificed human life he thought this might be his last moment alive. A best case scenario was that Crowley would surely smite him immediately, he knew, deep down in his demon depths that he’d more likely be tortured for infinity because of his epic failure.

“Why haven’t you called?” Crowley asked before Stefanus could even begin.

“The child…he was born, healthy and strong. But…sir, I’m sorry to report that the child, is gone, and I can’t find him,” Stefanus said.

Crowley raged and thundered incoherently, the blood leaping out in a splash that hit Stefanus right in the face. Finally the waves ended and stopped. “I don’t have time for this shit! You will stay there, in Omaha, monitor Julia’s movements, just in case she gives any clue about where she’s taken the child.”

“I will, sir. You can count on me,” Stefanus said, knowing it wasn’t really a promise that he should make.

“I know that I cannot, but you’re all I’ve got right now. And I’ve got too many plates spinning to worry about it. Tell me, quickly, what happened?”

“She bested me, right after the birth. It happened in her home, I never made it to the hospital, it was all over before I knew what had happened. She got to the road salt, and the child, he helped her push me out.”

“You did well,” Crowley said.

Stefanus almost couldn’t speak with how surprised he was, Crowley’s praise made no sense. He was so surprised that he dared to ask a question. “What do you mean, sir? I failed you.”

“Yes, you may have lost him, for now. But I can still feel him out there alive, I just can’t zero in at the moment, too many distractions to concentrate enough. I said that you did well, because you chose a good woman, who didn’t just outright kill our weapon to beat Heaven. Don’t bother to contact me again until you know something worthwhile.” The connection ended abruptly.

Stefanus didn’t know what to think, what to feel, he thought he’d be dying right then and there. He hadn’t planned on getting another chance. As he stalked out of the blood-soaked gas station, he went over what Crowley had said, and how he’d said it. Stefanus got the strong impression that Crowley was otherwise occupied with something more important. Which struck him as strange, what could possibly be more important that ensuring that Hell’s side won the Apocalypse?

****  
  



	5. Chapter 5

 

#####

Stefanus, thus given a reprieve, however brief as it turned out to be, was determined to make the most of it. He possessed a series of Julia’s coworkers while they worked at her side, trying to make conversation about her baby and where it had gone. But Julia had nothing to say to these women that she didn’t really know. She looked shell-shocked and hollow, moving through the motions of her day. Maybe she missed being possessed or being pregnant, he had no idea, the woman had always been dim and dull and inherently uninteresting. He quickly bored of tormenting her coworkers, making each of them have sex with the horrible boss just because he could.

Stefanus watched Julia recover from her post pregnancy depression, but he didn’t bother to possess her again. He made do with her mailman instead. Spending year after year walking the same exact neighborhood delivery route was soothing and lovely and perfectly boring. He found himself almost forgetting about reporting in to Crowley, but there wasn’t anything to report. Not that Crowley would have minded too much what with Lilith being killed and all the chaos in Hell afterwards. Stefanus did not wish he was back there in Hell—at all. Instead he watched with a certain amount of satisfaction as Julia’s house fell into disrepair, her garden gone weedy and overgrown. She was pathetic, even for a human. She never recovered from his possession and her pregnancy. It was some sort of divine retribution for her having hidden the child away from them.

Wherever the child was, it was hidden from them, the demon’s promised cambion, the weapon they needed to win the war against Heaven forever lost to them. He sometimes wondered why Crowley had left him here to monitor Julia, instead of just killing him for his failure. It seemed a futile waste of time. Right up until the second the Winchesters had arrived in their flashy black car, roaring up to her decrepit house in the gloomy October afternoon. He watched them closely from the safety of his post office delivery jeep, and then briefly smoked out of his captive mailman to surveil them from within her house. Hal the postman would sleep it off until he returned.

Swirling about the house’s heater vents unnoticed, he watched the Winchesters banter back and forth and then encounter Julia with her damn salt. He listened to Julia babble on about her poor sob story of possession and pregnancy and birth. He heard her say, ”But demons are dumb, not even smart enough to figure out the Nebraska adoption system, thank goodness. So my Jesse got a chance. At least he got to grow up to the ripe old age of eleven before he ever encountered a demon.”

The brothers seemed surprised, impressed even that she knew that small thing about demons and salt. But then they were just a couple of stupid hunters. Stupidly attractive hunters—why hadn’t Crowley mentioned that about them? But then he watched the brothers leave, how closely they walked back to their car. How the older one checked over the tall giant for injuries before letting him get into his car. Hands lingering for an unnecessary amount of time, eyes resting on the other’s lips, but there was still a hesitance on both of their parts. Like something was new or being re-made between them. He pushed his smoky self closer, entering the heater vents of the car, his curiosity driving him to keep observing the brothers.

Both of them were protected against possession unfortunately, because that would have been the very definition of a fun time. After inhabiting a dumpy Nebraskan postal worker all this time, these two prime specimens were tantalizing in their angst and drama and virile striving quest to pretend they didn’t want the other one so desperately. He laughed to himself with his smoky lips, the delicious mutual pining coming off the brothers in waves as they sat in the car and talked about the mother and the boy.

_The boy. The boy. The boy._

That reminded him with a lightning bolt, _the boy_ , they were talking about the lost cambion, he had to go back inside Julia, push her to follow them, they had found the kid—The Weapon, and they were going back to see him. Maybe he had a small chance here to redeem himself with Crowley. With a little luck he might get a better assignment up here to stay on Earth, he’d sure like to see more of this modern world than just Nebraska. He rushed into Julia’s nose and throat in a black swirling mass, her panic deliciously familiar, almost tastier than her inability to stop him. Stupid useless woman, she could have gotten an anti possession charm or a lovely tattoo like the brothers. But no, she’d just sat in this house with her piles of road salt bags. He pushed and pulled her body into her car, hoping that the pile of junk would make it to wherever the brothers were headed.

He’d had a lot of practice driving as Hal the postman, so it wasn’t a problem, her car was a lot easier to drive than the post office delivery Jeep. He followed the trail of the brothers easily, once he’d zeroed in on the plume of over-the-top _feelings_ they left in their wake as the black car cut through the night. It was ridiculously easy really, they’d probably be embarrassed to know that this was how he’d found them, best them, with their own weakness in wanting each other. Did Crowley know all this? Had Lilith? Maybe he’d get even more of a boost in Crowley’s eyes providing this sort of personal intel on the Winchesters.

Julia screamed and battered against him, for the first hundred miles or so, but then she calmed down. He started up an internal dialogue with her just to pass the time and hopefully keep her screaming down to a bare minimum.

“What did you think of those hunters?” Stefanus asked.

“Fuck you!” Julia screamed.

“No really, I want to know your thoughts on those two,” Stefanus said.

“They’re killers, stone cold killers, and I hope they kill you,” Julia said.

“That might mean you die, just so you know,” Stefanus advised.

“I don’t give a fuck, I don’t care, if it means I’m not stuck carrying your ass around again, it’ll be fine.”

“Even if you’re in Hell?” Stefanus asked.

“Why would I be…there?” Julia asked, suddenly much quieter.

“Because you gave birth to Hell’s greatest weapon against Heaven of course, why would the assholes running Heaven let you into blissful eternity?”

“That wasn’t even my fault! You’re the one who got me pregnant!” Julia protested.

“True, but that’s not how the angels will see it. Once they get Dean really on their side, it’s all going to be over anyway. Hell and Heaven won’t even be a thing anymore.”

“What about Sam?”

“Oh, he’s meant for Lucifer,” Stefanus said.

“What are you talking about? Lucifer’s for real?”

“Julia, you’ve known about demons for how long now, twelve years? And you haven’t bothered to figure the rest of all this out? You really are just a useless meat bag.”

“One you keep coming back to apparently, so I guess I’m not totally useless. Tell me more about Sam,” Julia said.

“Oh of course, you’d like Sam, he was the one who, well—I probably shouldn’t say,” Stefanus said.

“C’mon, I’m dying soon anyway, right? What could it possibly hurt?” Julia pleaded.

“Sam is going to be the vessel for Lucifer, to fight on Hell’s side against Heaven. So he was the one who provided the swimmers for your precious little bundle of joy.”

“He must have been, what fourteen? Wait a damn second, you didn’t make me fuck a teenager, you would have made me remember that!”

“No, no nothing as lovely as that, you weren’t worthy of an honor such as that. It was just you, me and Crowley’s turkey baster full of Sam’s swimmers.”

“It is really messed up that scenario sounds a lot better than the alternative,” Julia said.

“What, better than you being a child-rapist? Besides, he’s belonged to another for quite a long time now.”

“Who, what?”

“You didn’t see it, between them when they were at your house?”

“No…I was too scared to really look too closely at them.”

“They’re cursed with being soulmates and brothers, quite a nasty trick played on them by the supposed good guys.”

“Soulmates? Is that a real thing?”

“Yeah, it is, right along with Lucifer. Honey, you have no idea what’s out there in the world, shit you puny humans would freak if you even knew half of it.”

“I wish I knew none of it,”Julia said.

“Oh count yourself lucky, sweet thing, you got to be involved in the Apocalypse. As a minor player of course, but still, more than most humans will be able to claim at the end of all things.”

“Apocalypse?”

“Battle between Heaven and Hell, you know to end the world and start the new one through fire and flame? Lucifer’s reign will be a glorious change for all who are lucky enough to be there,”

“What are you, like some sort of Lucifer loyalist or something?”

“Do you remember all the things I used to show you while you were pregnant, all the prophecies coming true, the world being remade in His glorious image?”

“I thought that was just stuff to scare me, I didn’t think it was a real possibility.”

“And it’s your son, the cambion, who will help Lucifer, secure Hell’s victory, just like I told you. It’s going to be all your fault that the world as it is now will be no longer.”

“What about all the people? It’ll be my fault?” Julia asked in a small voice, barely above a whisper.

“Pffft, who cares, acceptable casualties of war, this isn’t about humans anyway, it’s a death match that was set up by God and all of them big mucki-ty mucks way back when.”

“Sounds like a bunch of demon fairytales to me,” Julia said, punching him hard right between the metaphorical eyes.

Stefanus gasped in pain and locked her down, pushing her back down into her own depths, cramming her into the smallest space she could fit in. He rubbed the space between his eyes and went back to concentrating on following the brothers.

As he drove he reminisced about the glorious day that he and Crowley had done the deed. Right there in Julia’s small dingy bedroom, he fondly recalled how he’d held Julia’s legs open as Crowley had fucked her with the plastic turkey baster. That had been the best feeling, giving himself over to the King all the while holding Julia down like he was now. Knowing that he was making a contribution to the future of all demon-kind.

#####

The brothers soon pulled up in front of a large farm house. They walked up to the front door, side-by-side, in each other’s space, elbows and hands brushing. It was ridiculous. They let themselves in by the big one, Sam, picking the lock. He was parked on the other side of the street watching with the engine shutoff, trying to regroup. He took a few deep breaths and made sure that Julia was still stuck where he’d stashed her.

  
  
It was the sight of her boy, just seeing her Jesse, all beautiful, and grown-up and strong, that beat Stefanus this time. He’d almost gotten the brothers handled, but then the boy had intervened when Julia had managed to use her voice to call out.

“Jesse, please help me! I’m stuck in here, he won’t let me out! I don’t want to hurt them, make me stop!”

Jesse had heard her, and turned, his face a mask of rage. “You sit down and leave them alone!”

Stefanus felt Julia’s body slam into a chair and invisible bonds wrapped themselves around his arms and legs, tying her to the chair.

****  
  



	6. Chapter 6

 

****

“I’m very proud of you, Jesse for besting that angel,” Stefanus said, nodding at the small doll on the mantelpiece. He tested the invisible bonds of the cambion’s power that held him to the chair again. They were solid, there was no getting out of them.

“He was going to kill me,” Jesse said in a small voice. “I had to.”

“You did, my boy, and so creative too, what a wonder you are. When Lucifer was released, we could feel his power increasing, I see it flows through you already.” Stefanus turned to look up at the brothers looming over him.

“You two, Crowley told me you’d be twisted up together, but I never imagined how delicious it would be to actually see it for myself. Soulmates, but brothers too, oh heaven’s fate tis a cruel jest indeed.”

“Shut up, you,” Dean snarled in Julia’s face.

“No, I will not shut up. You need to know the truth right now, Jesse. He’s your birth father, the tall one. He’s going to be the vessel of our lord, Lucifer.”

Jesse stared at his birth mother with wide eyes, then turning them onto Sam. Sam stood up straighter and looked over at Dean. They seemed to share a silent conversation.

“It was that test, when you asked me to jerk off all those times. You even…uh helped me,” Sam said, turning red at the memory.

“That wasn’t me, Sam,” Dean said, turning a matching shade of red.

“Crowley,” they said simultaneously in a matching pair of murderous tones.

Stefanus let out a roar of laughter at their stupid red embarrassed faces. “Yes, it was my king, all those years ago. He needed the power of the Winchester line to make our little weapon here as strong as possible. And little Sammy back then, why I bet he thought he’d finally gotten somewhere with his big brother. And afterwards big brother Dean acted like he didn’t know what in the world he was talking about.”

Sam and Dean looked at each other and had another silent conversation, obviously they’d be talking about this (or not) later. Crowley had really done a number on these two.

“Jesse, it doesn’t matter, what she’s saying. You’re still you, no matter who your birth parents are. Your parents are the ones who raised you, and loved you. They're the ones who know you. And they raised you to make good choices, I bet, right?”

Jesse nodded his head, still seeming to be deciding on his course of action. “I need to think about this some more.”

Sam patted him on the shoulder, “Of course you do, buddy. Anybody would.”

“There’s nothing to decide here, Jesse. You need to come with me, take your place in our army. We’ll win and it will be glorious,” Stefanus said.

“I don’t want to be in anybody’s army, not ever,” Jesse said. “I won’t do it, and I don’t even understand how I got made or why or who would even want me.”

“Jesse, listen to me, this is the most important thing, your parents chose you, they adopted you, okay? None of this changes that, not at all, they love you. And you’re absolutely right, you don’t have to be in anyone’s army, not ours, and not hers.”

“But Sam, how…I mean, how did I get here, why am I like I am?” Jesse asked.

Sam took a deep breath and looked over at Dean, he waited until he got a nod from his brother to speak. “I was just fourteen, only a few years older than you are now. And this demon, Crowley, not the one inside of Julia here, but who would be his boss I guess. Well, he came to us and possessed Dean. He talked me into you know, jerking off into a container. Uh…you know what that means, right?”

Jesse went red in the face and nodded.

Sam’s cheeks also heated up, he took a deep breath and continued. “So I guess that Crowley,  brought it to Julia and got her pregnant somehow. That means…I guess that means that you’re my biological son.”

“You are so much more than some human’s son,” Stefanus interrupted. “You are one of the most powerful beings in existence, Jesse. You are the result of a virgin birth of the intercourse of a demon and a human, a cambion. And on the human side of things, Sam here is a vessel worthy of Lucifer himself which makes you even stronger.”

“I already have a dad though,” Jesse said.

“I know you do, Jesse. And I’m not going to try and take his place or anything like that, of course not. But I know he’d want you to be safe,” Sam said a little more urgently seeing the level of Jesse’s distress.

“Pssst, don’t listen to him, no one is safe, not when the angels are taking the world apart for their little Apocalypse. That’s why you want to be on the winning side with me, Jesse,” Stefanus said.

“Is that true, Sam? Are the angels taking the world apart?” Jesse asked.

Sam’s face looked pained for a moment, he looked over at Dean again and waited for some non-verbal cue that no one else in the room would understand. “Lucifer is an angel, a fallen one, he was locked up by God a long time ago to keep the world safe. It’s my fault that Lucifer was released, I made some bad choices and listened to the wrong advice. And I’m trying to undo all that, to put him back where he belongs.”

“Lucifer shall triumph! No human will ever defeat him!” Stefanus yelled.

Jesse looked over at him with a grimace and Stefanus felt his tongue and mouth go still and unmovable. He could breathe, but he couldn’t speak or make a noise.

“GO!”Jesse screamed towards him. “Get out of her!”

Stefanus couldn’t hold on, the power that the kid had was too much, it was overwhelming and everywhere and so damn loud and it hurt like his demon being was getting pushed through a metal sieve. And then he was out of Julia, no way back in, he was smoke and he was still getting pushed away. He chose the closest exit, the nearby chimney. He flew up and out and away from the house. And kept flying until he could no longer feel the cambion’s power pushing at him. He reformed himself, gathered all his pieces and parts back together and thought about his options. He could just leave from here, give Crowley a report, but that would be certain death since he’d failed so utterly. The only other option was to sneak back in and spy, not try and possess anyone, but to get information. That was Crowley’s stock-in-trade, he would always make a deal if you had something to offer. He had no choice, he pointed back towards the house and went back inside through one of the vents. He lingered in the walls, near where the conversation was happening. He hoped he’d see or hear something worth the risk.

****

“Is she going to be okay?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, as okay as anyone ever is after demon possession. She’s lucky, nothing’s obviously broken, so I think she just needs to rest for a bit,” Sam said.

“Jesse, why don’t you go pack up some stuff and we’ll get on the road to our friend’s house?” Dean asked.

“The one that’s like Professor Xavier?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, that’s the guy,” Dean said. “He’s got a little bit more hair though.”

“I’ll be right back,” Jesse said.  He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at the brothers sitting on the couch. “Thanks for coming, and explaining all of this to me, I was really scared. Now I’m not, I know it’s gonna be okay.”

Stefanus rolled his non-corporeal eyes. The kid had no clue what was coming for him.

While they waited for Jesse to come back downstairs, the brothers spoke to one another after making sure Julia was comfortable in her passed-out state. Stefanus hovered in the chimney in his smoke form, eavesdropping on them.

“Dean, all those years ago, I thought…I thought you’d played a trick on me, to get me to stop wanting you like I did. I was so mad for so long, I could barely function.”

“I remember you being mad back then, and I didn’t know what the hell I’d done to make you so damn mad at me. And you wouldn’t talk to me even when I asked and then it just got worse and worse from there.”

“I thought I’d finally gotten you to look at me the way I’d always wanted you to. We’d finally had some sort of sex and then, god, you were so shitty to me, you told me it was all a bad dream.”

“You were so damn sure that we’d had sex, but I knew we hadn’t. I mean I didn’t remember being possessed, I didn’t remember any of it, and I sure as hell would have. But back then I couldn’t tell you how I really felt, Sammy. I was trying to protect you from all that, from myself and what I wanted.”

“You were?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t figure it out. I should have.”

“It was Crowley, we know how good he is at covering his tracks.”

“I’m sorry anyway, I shouldn’t have treated you like that though,” Dean said.

“I’m sorry too, I just wanted you so much I couldn’t think straight. Still can’t sometimes,” Sam confessed.

Stefanus could hear some noises that sounded like there was embracing and definitely kissing happening and wished he could peek out at them to see it.

“They were messing with us, all along, our whole damn lives. The angels, the demons, all of them,” Sam said.

“Fuck ‘em, fuck ‘em all. It’s gotta be you and me, from here on out, right? No matter what they throw at us, we’re stronger together, right?” Dean asked.

“You and me, that’s how we’re going to win,” Sam said.

There were more of the kissing noises, a few wet and hungry sounding growls followed by some big gasps of breath. A silence stretched between them.

“It’s been a little while since Jesse went up. Let’s go check on him, huh?” Dean said.

Stefanus could hear them trooping upstairs and their wild fruitless search for the child who he could sense was long since gone. He flowed out of the fireplace and found a pool of darkness underneath the couch. He heard the angel doll fall off the mantelpiece and then saw a scuffed toes of a pair of men’s shoes step into his view from where he remained hidden.

“How are we going to find him, Dean? We have to find him!” Sam yelled as they clumped down the stairs.

“The demon is still here,” the deep voice of the angel said, interrupting them. Jesse really had transformed the angel just before he’d gone. Stefanus kicked himself for not breaking that angel doll into tiny bits when he’d had the chance. At least he would have had that small triumph to bring back to Crowley.

“He’s gone, Jesse’s gone,” Sam told him, frantic and sad. He sat down on the couch heavily and covered his face with his hands. Dean came and sat next to him, the angel balanced on the arm of the couch.

“It’s okay, Sammy. We’ll find him, or maybe it’d be better if we didn’t.”

“I just found out he’s my son, and now he’s gone, and I would have done everything differently from the start if I’d known. I screw everything up, I keep screwing everything up.”

“You did fine with him, he just had to keep himself safe. He probably did the right thing poofing out of here like he did. Hey, he didn’t go with the demon and he let Cas get back to his regular self, so he’s starting out making good decisions, right?”

“I guess,” Sam said, shrugging. “I just wish I’d…”

“I know, me too,” Dean said, nudging Sam with his shoulder.

“As I said before, the demon is still here,” Castiel said.

And that was when Stefanus disappeared back up the chimney and out into the October Nebraska sky. He fled and flew and pushed himself away from the power of the angel, the cunning of the Winchesters, finally coming down in Kansas somewhere. He possessed a clerk in a convenience store, (oh aren’t those stores oh so very convenient) and sliced up a customer next to the rack of potato chips. The hot blood gushed and poured out of the man, quickly filling the bowl. Stefanus knew that it was possible that this would be his last moment alive, just as he’d assumed before. Crowley would be incensed and his life would be forfeit.

Instead he was surprised at how resigned Crowley was to hear that the cambion was still in the wind, and had been in Nebraska all along. He told Crowley about the Winchester brothers and their pet angel, but he already knew it all. He did laugh at Sam’s pain of being a father for a full ten minutes though. Stefanus grew tired of watching the blood boil with the energy of Crowley’s laughing. But, in the end, Stefanus was released from his servitude for the time being. Crowley told him to stay up top as long as he wanted to. And if he ever encountered the Winchesters again to call him.

####

Years and years passed and Stefanus stuck around Kansas, near Lebanon, the center of all things America and American. There was some power here that he couldn’t quite figure out and it intrigued his demon senses, he was drawn to it, and so he didn’t fight it. He occupied the bartender in the small town. It was boring, but at least it wasn’t Nebraska. Until he heard that familiar roar of that beautiful black car.

He felt the brothers before he saw them, their bond stronger than it had been before, broken, reformed several times over. They sat at a table in the dimmest corner of the bar, Dean approached him and ordered two beers and two shots of whisky.

He brought them over and set them on the table top. “You boys from around here?”

“Yeah, we are, just moved here from Lawrence,” Dean said.

“Well, welcome to town then,” Stefanus said, and fled to the relative safety behind the bar. He watched the brothers, and breathed them in. They were still so uniquely tangled and twisted together, indecipherable as separate beings when he peeked with his demon eyes. Their feet and legs were intertwined beneath the table, where human eyes couldn’t see. Was this worth calling Crowley over? Probably not, he seemed to always know about the Winchester’s whereabouts. Did he know that they’d turned into—this, whatever it was, it was the most intense thing he’d felt since he’d been inside Julia while the boy had been birthed.

He wondered if the brothers had ever encountered Jesse again, his long lost son. The one who got away. Stefanus didn’t have the guts to ask them, didn’t want to take the chance. He’d long since learned that there wasn’t much point in risking anything. There wasn’t a point to it any more. At least he was still topside and not stuck in the bowels of Hell. At least he still existed.

THE END

****  



End file.
